Improvement in seal-locks



entitled' @Stime i @met attire.,

JAMES E. THOMSON AND JAMES TILLINGHAST, OF BUFFALO, NEW

' YORK. y

'Letters Patent No. 93,371, dated August 3, 1869.

IMPROVEMENT 1N snmnocxs.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it ma/y concern Be it known that we, lJannes E. THOMSON andJAMES TILLINGHAST, ofthe city of Bualo, county of Erie, and State of NewYork, have invented a certtin Improved Seal-Lock for railroad-cars; andwe do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of our said invention, reference being had .to theaccompanying drawings, making a -part of this specification. 't

vI n the transportation of freight over connecting lines of railroad,the same cars, and the freightwith which they are loaded, are frequentlypassed tiom the careof one company to that of another.

. It is a matter of importance that such transfers lshould be madewithout the necessity of inspecting the contents of said cars at -eachchange, as great delay and expense are occasioned-thereby, while it isof still greater importance that each connecting company` 4should heinsured againstl damage fromloss of Y freight by theft or Inegligenceand dishonesty of employees, occurring upon the lines of either of itsconnecting companies, and that a ready and sure means of tracing suchloss, and fixing the responsibility therefor upon the company to whichit properly' belongs, should be at hand.

To accomplish these results is the object of our`invention; and

l The same consists in a certain combination of devices by which animproved system for seal-locking freight-cars is carried into eect, saiddevices being, first, a locking-bar provided with a series of holes forthe reception of seals; and, second, a series of softinetalseals,.applied t'o said bar, and impressed with signiiilcant marks, aswill hereinafter more fully appear.

l In the accompanying drawings- Figure I is a side view of om improvedseal-lock.

Figure II is an end or edge view of the slotted bow which forms the mainbody of the lock.

Figure III is a side viewof the locking-bar, showing the seals appliedthereto, and impressed with their significant marks. n

Figure IV is an edge View ofthe same Like letters refer to like parts.in each of the igures.

A represents the mail body of Athe lock, which is made of metal, inarsemicircular or semi-elliptical form, 'and has slotsal, through eachend, for the passage of the locking-bar B. f

A ring is also formed on this body, as shown-ata, for the purpose ofconnecting itby a chain to the body of thecar.

The-lbcking-bnr B is a iiatnietal bar, haring a bead, b1, at one end, toprevent its 'being drawn through the slots in the bow or body A, and aseries of two, three, or more'boles, b?, at 4its opposite end, toreceive the `scaliLrg-rivets. v v

'Lhc sealing-rivets are shown at tit d'0., these charerr acters alsorepresenting the significant marks impressed upon the -heads of theiivets. They are made of soft metal, and before sealing have only onehead, so that theymay be entered in the hole b2, after which a head isupset ou the other end, by compressionv between a pair ofriveting-pincers, which also at the same time impress upon theY head ofthe rivet the significant mark, so that said rivets cannot be removed,without destroying same, or' mutilating saidinark.

The system under which the sealing-livrets are applied and used is,briefly, as follows: d

Each company of the connecting line-sof railroad adopts some,significant mark (letter, number, or,other charaeter,) to designate itsparticular road, and provides its employees with the proper tools forapplying the sealing-rivets and impressing said mark thereon.

A car being loaded with merchandise, whose destination requires that itshould pass through the hands of several diierentcompanies, andbeingdulyinspected', and its contents notedin bill of lading, is lockedby means described, and the significant mark of the company starting thecar applied to the seal.

lVhen received atk the initial station of the connecting road, the sealis examined, and if found in order, the car is passed on, after havingan additional seal, with the mark of said vroad,applied to the lock-bar,

and so on until the car reaches its destina'tiori.V

The only inspectionrequired at the passage of the car from 'the care ofone to that of another, is simply to know that the seals of .the companyor companies through whose hands it has previously passed are intact. Ifthey proveto have been tampered with, the car is opened, and itscontents examined and noted, and the car again sealed and forwarded on.Any loss of goods will thus be surely discovered before it leaves thehands of the company in Whose -care it was at the time of said loss,and, therefore, each company is exempted fromv any responsibility exceptfor its own line.

It will usuallybe most convenient to designate the company by numbers,and the stations by letters. For instance:

Hudson River IN o. 1, New York, station A, seal Albany, station B, sealBoston Torcester No. 2, Boston, station A, seal Worcester, station B,seal by` Letters Witnesses:

F. A.' LANGWORTHY, B. H. MUEHLE.

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